Friendship is Magic, and Magic Can Be Dangerous
by aaron.brandt
Summary: After a funeral for a close friend, the Elements have to deal with two new arrivals in Equestria... all the while a new threat draws nearer... a threat that could cost them more than the lives of the ponies.
1. Soundtrack and info

My Little Pony : Friendship is Magic (and Magic Can Be Dangerous)

By: A.M Brandt

Started: 1-18-2013

Finished:

SoundTrack and song placement:

Artist - Song Title - Placement

Alanis Morissette - Uninvited - Nightmare Moon (disguised as Luna) seduces Chaz  
Carrie Underwood - Blown Away  
Coldplay - Viva La Vida  
Jorma Kaukonen - Genesis  
LeAnn Rimes - Probably Wouldn't Be This Way  
Mumford and Sons - I Will Wait  
Mumford And Sons - Keep My Feet  
Of Monsters and Men - Little Talks  
Rufus Wainwright - Hallelujah  
Taylor Swift - Love Story  
The Cranberries - Zombie  
The Cranberries - Dreams  
The Fray - How To Save A Life  
The Pogues - If I Should Fall From Grace With God  
Tracy Chapman - Talkin' 'Bout a Revolution  
Music from A Canterlot Wedding part 2 - Located at 15:50 - Chaz and Lynn use their powers to dispel evil Twilight  
Music from A Canterlot Wedding part 2 - Love Is In Bloom (instrumental) Located at 19:43 - Chaz and Lynn get married  
Julie Roberts - Hate To Breakdown Here  
Neil Young - War Of Man

**Characters** (**Voiced by**/singing voice actor if known):

**Trixie/Queen Chrysalis (Kathleen Barr)  
Princess Celestia (Nicole Oliver)**  
**Applejack/Rainbow Dash (Ashleigh Ball)**  
**Pinkie Pie/Fluttershy (Andrea Libman/**Shannon Chan-Kent(Pinkie Pie singing)**)**  
**Rarity/Princess Luna/Nightmare Moon/Derpy (Tabitha St. Germain/**Kazumi Evans (Rarity singing)**)**  
**Zecora (Brenda Crichlow)**  
**Big Macintosh (Peter New)**  
**Twilight Sparkle (Flashbacks only) (Tara Strong)**  
**Princess Cadence/Fake Cadence (Britt McKillip)**  
**Shining Armor (Andrew Francis)**  
**Spike (Cathy Weseluck)**  
**Discord (John de Lancie)**  
**King Sombra (Jim Miller)**  
**Apple Bloom (Michelle Creber)**  
**Scootaloo (Madeleine Peters)**  
**Sweetie Belle (Claire Corlett/**Michelle Creber (singing)**)**  
**Carriage Stallions (Terry Klassen)**  
**Mayor Mare (Cathy Weseluck)**  
**Chaz Spence (Ian Somerholder, Jeremy Davies)**  
**Lynn Truman (Rebecca Gayheart)**


	2. Prologue

The following presentation is rated **PG-13** for: Violence, some coarse language, implied mild sensuality, frightening scenes, scenes of death, and some graphic gore

Prologue

The day was gloomy; overcast, even for a cooler autumn day, it was gloomy. It had been several years since the Elements of Harmony had been gathered. The entire towns of Equestria, Ponyville, Manehattan, Appleloosa, and even some of the outlying small towns; they had all gathered not in Canterlot, but instead in Ponyville. The Princesses sat on either side of what could only be described as the most elaborate, most ornate coffin ever seen in all the kingdoms.  
The coffin itself was closed; the cover adorned with both Princesses royal insignias, and save for the symbols, the remainder of the coffin was covered and surrounded by flowers. At the base of the casket, the Princesses had created an eternal flame, which would be placed over the final burial mound before the burial site was enshrouded with a shield spell. As the sun set, the sky turned a deep, almost blood-like red and both Princesses stood, staying in their places at either end of the casket.  
"We have gathered here tonight to pay our respects to our fallen friend." Celestia began; as both she and her sister lit a ring of torches around the circle that everypony had formed.  
"Our time here is not infinite; even we will someday pass into the next world. And, while we do mourn today, let us not forget why we have all shown up here today… friendship." Luna continued. Both Princesses were fighting to hold back the tears; it showed in both their voices and eyes.  
"While shedding tears and crying are unavoidable, especially during times like these, we must remember that our fallen friend would want us to remember the happy times we had with them. We must remember that they gave their life in defense of Equestria so that we may live safe and in peace."  
"In honor of our friend, we ask that everypony present take a moment and concentrate on your happiest memory of our friend, to help them pass into the next realm with warm thoughts and memories going with them." Every pony closed their eyes and focused their concentration on their happiest memory of their fallen friend. As each pony focused harder and harder on the memory they chose, the Princesses horns began to glow a pale white, and soon a pale white shapeless mist rose out of the casket and floated towards the evening sky.  
"It is done. Our friend has crossed over to the next realm. We will bury our friend tomorrow during the Raising of the Sun." Both Princesses spoke in unison.  
"I have a personal request… for the rest of the month; I would like all shops in Equestria to make their wares available for free. The Royal Treasury will reimburse all shops for all wares." Princess Celestia added.  
"There will also be a reception here in Ponyville throughout the night lasting until the burial rites in the morning. We have been notified that should anyone need sleeping arrangements, everyone's residences will be available, as well as tents will be available." Princess Luna stated. Everypony started dispersing and talking amongst themselves, many of them crying and hugging. The Princesses stepped down from next to the casket and mingled. One after the other, the Royal Guards, followed by the Pegasi Guards and the Unicorn Guards then the Earth Pony Guards each went up to the casket and paid their silent respects. Once the crowd started to thin out a little, the ponies representing the Elements of Harmony went up as one group and spent almost an hour paying their respects and crying.  
Once they had all paid their respects, the group of friends walked over to a nearby shop that was serving a hard cider that the Princesses made sure to have on hand; the sisters knew how hard the past weeks had been on the group of friends, and had lifted the ban on the sale and distribution of alcoholic drinks. Both sisters had been to too many funerals, and knew how hard they were on everyone. This funeral had been for a very close friend, much closer to Celestia and Luna than most of the funerals they had been to in the past. In addition, to help their loyal subjects, Celestia and Luna were willing to do everything they could; even legalizing something like alcohol that had been outlawed so long ago.  
As the night went on, more and more of the townsponies retired to wherever they could find to sleep. Some of the last to head in to get a little sleep before the sun rose were the Princesses and the Elements of Harmony. They had at first sat around outside of the cider tent drinking, crying, and reminiscing; by three in the morning, they had all fallen asleep or passed out; and while the Princesses were still sober enough, they teleported the Elements back to Twilight's library, before they themselves fell asleep in the living room. A few hours later, Celestia awoke first and proceeded to go around the house waking everyone up for the morning's burial ritual. Once they were all up and as awake as they would be considering the amount of hard cider some of them drank, they all made their way out to the burial plot.  
The Royal Guards had all been stationed around the casket all night and some of them had been standing guard around the library, and as they saw the Princesses heading their way, the guards around the casket stepped off to the side. Within thirty minutes, everypony was crowded around the burial site; some were already crying, some stood silently trying to keep from crying, yet others just held onto whoever needed it and offered their support. During the night, the gryphons and dragons had arrived from their provinces; the guards had been notified by the gryphon and dragon ambassadors of their peoples' attendance.  
"We have gathered here to lay our fallen friend to rest at dawn, as has been tradition for millennia for those who gave their life in service to the kingdom." Luna began, once the crowd quieted down. Celestia turned to face East and brought the sun up until just the rim of it peaked over the horizon, turning the sky a bright red.  
"We gather to lay our friend to rest, but also to help them pass into the next life." Celestia spoke as the sun's red rays touched the casket. "We know not what awaits our friends and loved ones on the other side, but we can take comfort in the fact that our friend will be with their friends and family who have passed on, and our friend would not want us to feel sad about their passing."  
"They would instead want us to celebrate their life and legacy. Therefore, that is what we should try to do here today… remember our friend for the great inspiration she was. During the toughest of times," Celestia nodded to the Unicorn Guards who used their magic to pick up the casket and hold it over the grave, "our friendship was tested, but our friend's logical mind and perseverance would shine through. Our friend saved the town of Ponyville, and maybe even the whole of Equestria if not the entirety of Terra countless times, all the while wearing a smile on their face." Celestia gave the guards a slight nod and they began to lower the casket into the grave, "And, when a task was handed down to our friend, they would always see it through to the end, no matter what." The guards finished placing the casket, and powered down their magic.  
"It is because of these reasons, and countless more, that we bestow upon our friend one of the highest honors they could receive. In absentia, we bestow upon our friend the honor of being crowned Princess for all eternity… Princess Twilight Sparkle." Both Princesses said in unison, both tearing up as they said her name. Many in the crowd started crying again, as well.  
" As is tradition for a Royal burial, we ask that the departed's closest friends, followed by everyone who wishes to do so, come up and help bury our friend by placing a hoof-full of soil in the grave." Luna explained. Without any further words, the Princesses and the remaining Elements of Harmony gathered at the final resting place of their best friend and placed the first hoof-fulls of soil on top of the casket, while everybody who had gathered formed a line; dragons, gryphons, ponies, and even woodland creatures lined up to help. Once Fluttershy's rabbit friend, Angel, got up to the partially filled grave, he solemnly scooped two paw-fulls of soil into the grave before breaking down crying. Fluttershy stepped in beside him, placed her hoof-full of soil in the grave before collapsing, sobbing too hard to stand. The Princesses stepped forward and helped the shy Pegasus pony and her rabbit friend away from the grave. The rest of the Elements and the rest of the crowd followed, and soon the grave was filled, with Celestia using her magic to place several plats of sod over the grave. Then, both Princesses cast the enchantment to keep Twilight's grave and casket safe for all eternity. They then turned to look at the crowd,  
"There will be another gathering for all who wish to attend, then Princess Luna and I must return to Canterlot to take care of some business, but we will return as soon as we can. For anyone who wishes to come to the castle to talk to either of us, there will be Royal chariots available anytime to take you there and bring you back." Celestia added. At that, the crowd began to disperse; some heading back inside their houses to be with friends and family, some heading for the hard cider stands, though most stayed outside and talked with friends. The remaining Elements stayed in their group and talked amongst themselves.  
"Ah never heard… why the closed casket?" AppleJack asked. The rest of the Elements shook their head, Fluttershy breaking into another round of crying.  
"None of us has the heart to speak of something so terrible ever again." Rarity spoke up. The rest of the Elements nodded in agreement.  
"I don't ever want to talk about it again. It's a safe bet that if _they're_ still out there someplace, the Princesses will find them, and Celestia help _them_ when they catch up with them." Rainbow Dash said, having been the third on the scene. Everyone's usually warm demeanors were totally gone; replaced with an almost cold demeanor. "And, I won't try to stop them, either. _They_ got it coming for what she did."

End of Prologue 


	3. Chapter 1

Chapter 1 (Chicago, Illinois)

Chaz Spence stood looking at his desk, studying the results of the latest tests for the hundredth time. The study required concrete evidence, otherwise all funding would be withdrawn, and he and his lab partner would both miss their doctorates. His fellow researcher, Lynn Truman, stood leaning against the filing cabinet, watching Chaz reread the latest results. She knew what was at stake should they fail to find the needed results. She looked at her watch for the tenth time, and glanced at the schedule again. They were set up for another test, and were waiting on the next test subject to arrive soon.  
"Don't worry… we're going to find what we're looking for sooner or later. We came close on the last test." Lynn said, trying to cheer Chaz up. He finally straightened up and started towards the lab.  
"We'd better, or it's all over for the lab. Are all the cameras and data recorders ready?" As he asked, the door opened, and in walked their test for the day, Gypsy Banks. Gypsy was a student at the University, and a self-professed witch. Chaz and Lynn had lots of grant money and their doctorates invested in this experiment.  
They were hoping to scientifically prove that the magic that witches and Pagans believed they used was a measurable scientific phenomena, and if they could prove it was real, maybe magic could be used as an alternate energy source; perhaps, even one that would never run out. In order to test that it existed, they had designed and built an isolation room quite a bit similar to the clean rooms at Intel. It was surrounded with cameras recording in every spectrum; infrared, thermal, ultraviolet; two high-speed cameras, one filming in black-and-white and one in infrared. They had also setup magnetometers, several gravimeters, a scintillator, Geiger counters, several bolometers, a net of load cells embedded in the floor, CCD and CMOS cameras all around, and a vast array of basic temperature, pressure and every other kind of sensor they could get their hands on, along with a high-density EEG net array worn as a hat. At this point in the experiment, they were not taking any chances on missing the data that could prove that magic was a measurable phenomenon.  
"Thank you for coming today, Gypsy. As I explained to you the other day, we are running an experiment to prove that magic, like what you believe you have access to and can use… no offense, has physical properties and can be explained by science." Aaron explained in short. Gypsy shook hands with Lynn and Chaz.  
"I remember… from the interview the other day. I just hope I can help with this… not that I want to disprove magic or anything, but if it can help someone further their education, then I'm willing to help." Gypsy replied. Chaz and Lynn led her into the testing room and hooked up the EEG to her.  
"Okay… once the test starts, we just want you to try any magic you can… levitation, mind reading, summoning spirits, anything you can think of. The main thing is that you do it in the clean room here… that way, we know that there aren't any wires to help you levitate or anything… not that we don't trust you or anything, we just have to prove it's the real deal, y'know?" Lynn explained. Gypsy nodded and sat down in the middle of the room. She had asked for a pillow and some candles, and the scientists agreed. They left the room, and started recording on the camcorders and logging data on all the other instruments. They planned on the experiment lasting about two hours, and so they sat down at the control console to monitor the readings the sensors sent back.  
About an hour and a half into the experiment, Chaz had dozed off, and Lynn was listening to music on her headphones with her back turned to the monitors, when the EEG graphs began spiking. Several minutes later, the load cells started reporting less weight on them, and soon after, the Geiger counters started rapidly pinging. Finally, an audible alarm sounded. Chaz fell backwards in his chair, and Lynn spun around, ripping her headphones off in the same movement.  
"What the hell? We're getting readings from almost everything!" Chaz exclaimed as he picked himself off the floor. Lynn looked up from the monitors to the clean room, and gasped.  
"Never mind that… what's happening to her?" They both stood up and looked towards Gypsy, or rather where she had been. Where Gypsy had once been, she was now mostly transparent and hovering two feet off the floor. Chaz made a quick check of the cameras and found that they were all recording and seeing exactly what the two scientists were seeing. Just then, several more alarms began sounding.  
"Nononono! This can't be happening now!"  
"What is it? What's wrong?" Lynn shouted over the alarms.  
"That's the battery backup for the computers… we just lost all external power. We've got maybe ten minutes of battery left before everything shuts down except the camcorders!" They both leapt into action, running around to all the computers and saving all the data to a handful of thumb drives and to the hard drives in the computers and to the University's network server. As the network save was about to finish, the ground started to shake. "Now what? An earthquake in Chicago?!" Chaz asked no one in particular as they both ran for the nearest doorway. On glancing back at the experiment room, they were shocked to watch as Gypsy faded from view as the ceiling came crashing down, the lights, even the emergency lights, shut off, and the quake grew stronger. At some point during the quake, they had been knocked unconscious, because when they woke up and Chaz grabbed one of the High-Definition camcorders, which had a fully charged battery, they walked towards the door, the sun was higher in the sky than it had been when they started the experiment with Gypsy.  
Their lab had been in the warehouse district of Chicago, so they were vastly unprepared for what they saw when they opened the door; they were in a forest.

It had been a trying two weeks, and life had returned to normal for most of the town of Ponyville. The shops had all been reimbursed by the Royal treasury, and were busy restocking the shelves and displays they had up. The fillies and colts had returned to class; fortunately, Cheerilee had prepared for how hard it would be. Everypony in her class knew Twilight and loved the violet mare, and she had taken a couple days to come up with lessons that could help the children deal with their feelings about Twilight's untimely passing.  
About two and a half weeks after the funeral, one of the Unicorn Guards came rushing into the throne room, where Luna and Celestia were quietly talking.  
"Your Majesties… a Trixie Lulamoon to see you. She says she has information about Princess Twilight's murder!" Celestia and Luna both responded,  
"Send her in at once!" The guard trotted out into the hallway where Trixie was waiting, and she was shown in. "It's alright, Guard Caramel. You can leave us." Luna said to the guard who was still standing inside the doors. He bowed and left, closing the door behind him.  
"I'm sorry for interrupting Princesses, but I have information about what happened to Twilight Sparkle." The Princesses eyed her with curious suspicion. They both knew that she and Twilight did not get along at all, and had been involved in several magic duels, and that Trixie was known for being the biggest bragger in Equestria.  
"What do you know, Trixie?" Celestia bluntly asked. She and her sister had sat down on their thrones.  
"Umm… I don't know how to say this any better, so I'll just say it… I am responsible for Twilight's death." The Princesses did not breathe for over a minute. When they gathered themselves, Celestia rushed Trixie and backed the pale blue-maned mare against a pillar.  
"Guards! Escort this… pony… to the prison block, and make sure to put every magic ward you can think of on it. She is officially being charged with the murder of Twilight Sparkle!" Celestia shouted to the guards she knew were just on the other side of the door. They burst in the door and rushed over to where Trixie sat, backed into the pillar.  
"Make this easy on yourself and come along quietly. We will use force, if we have to… and would not mind it one bit." Caramel said, saying the last part quietly so only Trixie could hear it. Trixie stood and the two guards, one Earth Pony and one Unicorn, led her off towards the prison cells deep under the castle. Along the way, they were joined by another Unicorn Guard and two Pegasus Guards. Later that night, the Alicorn sisters went down to the cell where Trixie was.  
"How did this happen? Why?" Celestia shouted; her voice cracking.  
"Trixie…" Luna slowly walked forward, fighting to keep Nightmare Moon from taking over, "how dare you attack another pony?! Let alone do something to kill somepony!"  
"I fully accept whatever punishment you feel I deserve. This was all my fault. I know I'm guilty, and I won't try to change your minds about the punishment." Celestia and Luna backed off a few steps when they saw tears forming in Trixie's eyes.  
"Would you care to explain how this happened?" Celestia asked, sitting down next to her sister, and placing a comforting hoof on Luna's wing. She could see that Luna was struggling to contain Nightmare Moon.  
"Alright, this is what happened…" The light blue pony began.  
She explained that she had challenged Twilight Sparkle to another magic duel, though this time; it would be a no holds barred duel until one pony was left standing. Twilight refused at first, so Trixie kept harassing her with weaker spells until the violet unicorn turned and started bombarding Trixie with slightly stronger spells. At the start of the duel, they started by taking turns casting various spells on each other; as the duel wore on, they both started casting their bigger, potentially more dangerous spells at each other.  
They had both been throwing their most powerful spells at each other, and were both growing tired. Twilight could feel her opponent charging a spell; it seemed to be a massive fireball and Twilight readied her own surprise. As Trixie let off the fireball, Twilight let her own spell loose; she caught the spell and absorbed it to power up her own spell.  
She misjudged how powerful Trixie's spell had been. As her body absorbed Trixie's spell, Twilight's horn began to glow a blinding white. Twilight was well aware of what was happening to her; her magic was being overcharged by the spell she absorbed.  
As her magic reserve reached maximum and continued past the danger level, she tried to fire off every spell she could in an attempt to use up the excess magic, but due to her panicked state, she could not focus enough for long enough and every spell she tried failed. Her horn started to flake apart from all the power coursing through her body, and cracks were beginning to show along its whole length; bright light was shining through her coat from someplace inside her. As Trixie watched in horror, all the energy Twilight had absorbed released itself all at once in a massive explosion. The explosion threw Trixie almost three-hundred meters away from the explosion, leveled a whole section of the Everfree Forest, and the shockwave broke most of the windows in Ponyville.  
"We tried teleporting to what it seems was your duel, but one of you had cast a shield around the area that blocked even us from teleporting to you. We eventually got through…" Celestia could not hold back the tears any longer.  
"And saw the aftermath of your so-called duel. I do not think we'll ever forget what we saw in the crater your duel left behind. When Celestia discovered whose remains littered the crater and told me, we both vomited. Not even Nightmare Moon would do something like that!" Luna shouted at the prisoner. Celestia stood, followed by her sister, and began leaving the prison block.  
"We'll discuss your punishment and when we decide on a fitting one, we will return. Until then, if you even try to escape, every guard in Equestria will have orders to bring you back to the castle, regardless of how or in what condition." Celestia coldly said. Celestia had left the cell Trixie was being held in, and Luna was about to turn to leave, when she heard Trixie give a grunt followed by a pained scream. The Princess of the Night turned in time to see Trixie break her horn off her forehead. Blood trickled down her forehead, and Luna fainted after she yelled for her sister. Celestia rushed back to the room to find her sister on the floor unconscious, and Trixie bleeding with her horn lying on the floor at her hooves. Not knowing what else to do, the Princess teleported the two of them to the Emergency Room in Canterlot's hospital.  
Before Celestia could say anything, Nurse Redheart saw what condition Trixie was in, and managed to hit the emergency call button for the doctor before fainting. Doctor Whooves came barreling down the hallway towards the Princess and Trixie. Once he got to them, he took one quick look at Trixie, grabbed the nearest gurney and rushed her to the operating room. Once he had a chance to take a closer look at Trixie, he knew what he would have to do. No unicorn's horn had ever been successfully reattached, and the way hers had broken off damaged her scalp and hairline in such a way that he had no choice but to remove the rest of her horn and stitch her scalp closed. The procedure took close to eight hours; a good portion of which was trying to keep Trixie anesthetized deep enough. Unicorn's horns are full of nerves all the way up to the tip, and anytime he tried to remove any of the remainder of her horn, Trixie kept waking up.  
Once he was done with the surgery, the Doctor put Trixie in the Intensive Care ward on suicide watch. Celestia stayed with the troubled young unicorn for the first forty-eight hours, and then when she had not woken up, Celestia left instructions for the Doctor to let either Princess know the moment Trixie's condition changed. To prevent Trixie from pulling out the stitches, the Doctor had one of the Unicorns on his staff put Trixie in a magically induced coma. Four days after she had arrived at the hospital, she woke up.  
"Uhh… my head. Where am I?" She asked as she fought to open her eyes. The bright hospital lights hurt them, and when she realized, Celestia turned the lights down low. She had received word from the hospital that Trixie was starting to wake up, and had teleported herself there right away.  
"You're at the Canterlot Hospital, in the Intensive care ward. I brought you here after you broke your horn off." Celestia said as gently as she could.  
"I'm so sorry, Princess. I'm sorry I was always such a show-off and a bragger. If I hadn't been, Twilight would still be with us." Trixie said before breaking down crying again.  
"I'm sorry, too. I let my anger and feelings about the situation cloud my judgment. My sister and I talked it over before I calmed myself down, and we had settled on sending you to the Frozen North to work for the Diamond Dogs in the coalmines, and had drawn up all the paperwork and signed everything before stopping for a second to think about it. Princess Luna still stands by her decision to send you to the Frozen North, and we would need to agree to tear up the prison orders. Luna is famously stubborn, and it would take months…"  
"I wouldn't want you to try to free me. It was my mistake to be so overconfident that I couldn't stand the thought of being bested by Twilight or anypony else, and I took things too far and now I have to pay for it." Trixie sighed.  
"Doctor Whooves says you should stay here for about a week, and if you'd like, I might be able to extend that a bit, in case you want to say goodbye to anyone. So far, nobody besides the Royal Guards, Luna and I know any specifics of what happened. The Doctor might know, but he knows better than to say anything." Celestia said. Trixie thought for a few minutes, before replying.  
"While I appreciate you keeping this all quiet, I think the townsponies have a right to know what happened. I know it'll be like wearing a coat made of meat and walking into a pack of timberwolves, but I feel it should be done. Unfortunately, I'll probably end up needing guards to keep me safe until I get to the Frozen North." Trixie let out a sad chuckle. Celestia placed her hoof on Trixie's.  
"I'll take care of everything. We'll have the town meeting back in Ponyville. Don't worry, Trixie… despite everything that has happened, I won't let anything happen to you. I'll set everything up for three days from now. Is there anything you would like before then?" Celestia asked the young mare.  
"I'll be alright. Not to be rude, but I'm feeling tired…"  
"Not a problem, Trixie. I should be going, too." The Princess said as she got up and left the room. "Don't worry, Trixie. You are not the only pony to have done something foalish like what you did. While I can't say that I condone such behavior, just know that something similar has happened to more ponies than you might think." Celestia said with a slight wink as she left the room and let the door close behind her. As the Princess left the room, Trixie could swear she caught a glimpse of several scars along the Princess' hind legs and around the base of her wings.

(End of Chapter 1) 


	4. Chapter 2

Chapter 2 (Everfree Forest, Equestria, Terra)

As they pushed on walking through the forest, hoping to find civilization, Lynn and Chaz quickly discovered that they would lose where the lab was unless they marked its location. They had tried the GPS on their cell phones, but found that they could not get a signal, so not having anything else to try; they started tearing strips of cloth off their lab coats and tying the fabric around the trees as they walked. AS they walked through the forest, Chaz made sure to keep the camera recording, mostly filming whatever caught his eye and making occasional observations, though. Eventually, the trees started to thin out and then they were in a field. They could not believe their luck. They had come out of the forest into an apple orchard.  
"Well, it seems luck is on our side. Let's take a break from walking and grab a few apples." Chaz smiled. They each plucked a few apples and sat down under one of the trees. As they sat there relaxing under the tree, a dog came up and started barking at them. Chaz whistled and tried to get the dog to come over to them, and was eventually successful. The dog did not have a collar, which did not surprise Chaz seeing that they were out in the country away from city laws and regulations. The dog appeared to be a golden retriever. While they sat and talked to the dog and each other while they relaxed under the apple tree, they were a little surprised when they heard someone calling for the dog.  
"Winona! Where d'ya get off to? Here, girl!" Someone was calling from outside of the orchard ahead of Chaz and Lynn.  
"Well, what do we do now?" Chaz asked Lynn. The dog already knew who was calling to her and barked back a couple times. Lynn and Chaz looked at each other before trying to shoo the dog away, and as soon as the dog started back towards its owner, Chaz and Lynn ducked from tree to tree trying to put some distance between the dog's owner and the humans. They ended up at the edge of the forest they had just come from. They looked at each other for a few seconds, before deciding to follow the edge of the forest until they thought they had gotten away from the dog's owner, until they heard the owner give a shout;  
"A'right, Winona… let's round'em up! Yee haw!" Within minutes, the dog's owner came into view. Chaz and Lynn were hiding just inside of the edge of the forest, and could not believe their eyes. They had been peaking around the tree they were hiding behind. Standing before them was a light amber pony.  
"'Kay… whoever's in there, y'all best come out now! Ah know you been eating my apples and sneakin' around my orchard… y'all can't hide in there forever!" The pony spoke, to Chaz and Lynn's utter amazement. The two humans looked at each other before nodding to each other in agreement and stepping out with hands raised. "Winona… run an' get Fluttershy and the gang." The pony told her dog before turning to the two strangers, "You two… don't ya go an' do anything stupid… Ah might only be a pony, but Ah can take care of mahself. I want y'all to come with me to the house… when the others get here, we'll figure out what ta do. Oh, and I'm AppleJack. What should we call you two and just what in tarnation are y'all?" AppleJack asked, moving aside so the two strangers could come out of the edge of the forest and walk towards the house with the pony following close behind.  
"I'm Chaz Spence, and this is Lynn Truman, and I can't believe I'm talking to a pony, no offense. We're from Illinois… it's a state in a country called America on a planet called Earth. We don't know how, but we ended up here along with our science lab… our lab ended up in the forest about a few hundred yards pretty much straight back." AppleJack looked surprised.  
"Y'all managed t' walk out of Everfree Forest? Nopony ever goes in there unless it's to talk to the shaman, Zecora, who lives in there. There's lotsa nasty critters in there." The pony explained. Down at the end of the path leading up to the house, AppleJack could see Winona leading the group of ponies towards the house where the two humans and AppleJack were sitting. As they got closer, AppleJack could see they had brought the Elements with them, and once they all got there, AppleJack ducked into the house and got hers. Ever since Twilight's tragic death, the remaining Elements wore the necklaces most of the time, in some way hoping to come across whoever was responsible for their friend's demise.  
"We're here, now what seems to be the prob…" Rarity started to ask before she let out a yelp of surprise at seeing who was with AppleJack. Everypony else stared slack-jawed when they saw that is was not any pony waiting with AppleJack, they were creatures that lacked fur, and wore clothes and one had white skin while the other had slightly darker skin. Spike had come with the other ponies and as soon as he saw what was waiting at AJ's farmhouse, he pulled out a quill and scroll and scribbled a note off to Princess Celestia and sent it to the Princess with a little puff of green flame. Chaz had never stopped recording, mostly holding the camera at rest in his hand, but still maintaining its aim towards the various ponies. The ponies, for the most part, talked amongst themselves;  
"I've got a bad feeling about them… if they're from this Earth they mentioned, what the hay are they doing here? How'd they get here?" AppleJack asked after walking over to the group. All of them jumped when Spike belched up a scroll bearing both Princesses Royal insignias. The purple dragon broke the seals and read it to the group:  
"My Little Ponies,  
We understand your concerns over the newcomers, and need to meet them at the castle. We have dispatched two Royal Carriages to bring all of you to Canterlot… they should be arriving minutes after you receive this scroll. We are reserving all judgment until after we meet them.  
None of you are permitted to hurt them unless dire need arises… and, let them know they are not under arrest in any way, but they must come to Canterlot at once. Whatever happens, we will all be returning to Ponyville in three days for an important town meeting. That is all we can say about the meeting for now.  
Always,  
Princesses Celestia and Luna"  
They all looked from one pony to the next before casting eyes skyward to see the carriages coming in for a landing in AppleJack's front yard.  
Chaz and Lynn could not believe what they had seen; she knew Chaz was recording everything he could without being obvious. Whether she liked it or not, she understood why he was recording everything; everything they had seen since meeting the pony called AppleJack seemed like a dream. Once the carriages arrived, they were herded into one, and the ponies packed into the other. The carriages left without any fanfare and started the journey to the city of Canterlot. The journey took about half an hour; when they landed, the door was opened from the outside, and they were herded into the castle. Looking around, they were amazed at what they saw.  
The castle was easily as tall as the Dubai Towers, and each of the four gates the humans could see was guarded by two guards outside it and two inside it, along with two posted on the castle wall at each gate. Large banners hung on either side of the massive main doors, displaying the royal seals of each Princess. Four guards stood at the main doors, and glared at the humans.  
"It's alright, Caramel. We have orders from the Princesses to bring them to the castle." Spike said, showing the guards the Princesses letter. They looked it over before standing aside and knocking on the door, which creaked open with the help of the guard ponies inside. Spike led the humans inside with AppleJack in front of the humans, while the rest of the ponies flanked and followed the humans into the grand hall. At the far end, there were two massive gold thrones, with each one having the insignia of each Princess on it. The ponies formed a crescent extending out from where the thrones were while the humans quietly talked to each other. About five minutes after they arrived, Chaz and Lynn heard the clip-clop of what sounded like a larger pony coming from a side hallway. The ponies who brought them to the castle all straightened up, and AppleJack removed her hat.  
As the larger pony came into view, Chaz and Lynn gasped. Standing before them was the largest horse they had ever seen; she was white with a long, unnaturally flowing mane and tail of pink and blue hues. She had wings like the rainbow-maned pony and a horn like the violet-maned white pony, and wore a golden tiara and necklace; the necklace was of similar design to the ones the ponies were wearing. Walking in-step with the white pony was a darker pony; this one had a dark sapphire coat, and hues of very dark blue mane and tail that seemed to flow in an unfelt wind like the white pony's mane and tail. The darker one was about three hands taller than the ponies the humans had travelled to the castle with.  
"Hey! Yer supposed t' bow to them! They could exile you if you don't!" AppleJack whispered to Chaz and Lynn, who very quickly bowed, Chaz making sure to keep the camera trained forward as good as he could. The two Princesses took their respective thrones.  
"You may stand. I am Princess Celestia, and next to me is my sister, Princess Luna. Together, we rule over the land of Equestria as we have done for over a thousand years, maintaining harmony throughout the land with the help of the ponies who travelled with you today. They make up the Elements of Harmony along with a friend of theirs who passed into the next realm two weeks ago. I am curious what beings like you are doing here." Princess Celestia asked.  
"And, how you two ended up in Ponyville would be worth knowing, too." Princess Luna stated. Lynn cleared her throat and stepped forward. "Tell us, what is your name, brave one?"  
"I am Lynn Truman, and his name is Chaz Spence. We are from a town called Chicago in a state called Illinois in a country named America on a planet named Earth. I'm not sure if you have much in the way of astronomy, but our home planet is located in the inner rim of the Orion arm of the Milky Way. We don't know how we ended up here… we were carrying out a fringe science experiment, and just when we were getting the results we needed, an earthquake occurred and we were knocked unconscious, and when we woke up, we were here. Somehow, whatever brought us here brought our lab here too… it ended up out in the forest behind AppleJack's property." Lynn explained. The Princesses looked at each other for a moment.  
"We believe you and are willing to let you stay here in Equestria if you wish. Although, seeing that you are scientists, we could always use more brilliant minds in Canterlot. There are always openings in the sciences department. Whatever you decide is fine with us. While you are staying with us, Luna and I will search for a way to send you back home." Celestia said.  
"To make getting started with a life easier, wherever you decide to take up residence, for the first week or two, the Royal Treasury will help you two out financially." Luna added, eliciting a nod from her older sister. "Girls… could you leave us for a minute?" Luna asked. The Elements of Harmony nodded, knelt before the Princesses, and left the room. Once the ponies had left the room, Celestia spoke up;  
"You two should know that if it seems like the ponies are a little distant or distracted, or just don't seem to trust you two, it's because their friend Twilight Sparkle was murdered two weeks ago. We have the murderer in custody, and have already sentenced them, though the Elements of Harmony do not know that, and it would be better if they did not know, at least for now. We are telling you two this so you do not take their reluctance to associate personally. For however long you two end up staying here in Equestria, if you need anything, let us know. You can have Spike… the young purple and green dragon… send letters to us right away, otherwise there is a regular mail system. If it is urgent, you can send the message directly from your mind to either of us by concentrating on our name and the message and we will get it."  
"Celestia is the Princess of the Day, while I am the Princess of the Night. One of us is always available, and will help with what we can. These are trying times, and the Elements and everypony else will need all the help they can get to pull their lives and the lives of the rest of the townsponies back together. Twilight's murder was the first one in over five hundred years, so everypony is understandably shaken by the tragedy." Luna finished. Chaz and Lynn glanced at each other.  
"Well, unless Chaz has any reservations, I think we'd like to take up residence in Ponyville." Chaz nodded in agreement. "Is there anything we should know or be prepared for before settling in Ponyville?"  
"Just curious, but is there electricity in Ponyville?" Chaz chimed in.  
"It may be worth remembering that the residents of Ponyville may not be terribly welcoming at first, and because of that, we will accompany you for your first day there. Being that you are so different from us, they may be reluctant to welcome you as friends, but depending on what you two are good at besides science, you should have no trouble finding a job. And, yes, Chaz… there is electricity." Celestia turned to the door. "You may come back in, ponies." The doors opened and the ponies filed back in, taking their places next to the humans.  
"One issue, though, is… where they are going to be staying. I have a suggestion, though it would depend on how you ponies would feel about it. How would you feel about them taking up residence in the library?" Luna asked the Elements of Harmony. They looked at each other, and at first, only the yellow pony with her face half hidden behind her pink hair nodded in agreement.  
"I don't know Fluttershy… the library was Twilight's place. I'm not sure if we should just have someone move in there right away." Rainbow Dash, uncharacteristically calm, disagreed with her friend.  
"Well, if they're going to be living among us, what better place for them to live where they can learn all about the place they're living? I think they should move in to the library." The white maned pony with purple hair added to the decision.  
"Rarity, sugarcube, I gotta say I agree with Fluttershy and y'all… I think it'd be a good thing to have them move into the library. Better than them living in their lab out in the forest, fer sure." AppleJack agreed. The group of ponies looked to the pink pony. "What d'ya think, Pinkie?" She tapped her chin with her hoof, looking like she was deep in thought for a few seconds.  
"Hmm… I don't have a problem with it… as long as they take care of the library, and don't just throw out all of Twilight's stuff." Pinkie responded, glaring at the humans when she mentioned throwing Twilight's stuff out.  
"Well, it's settled then… Chaz and Lynn will move into the library. Was there anything in your lab in the Everfree Forest that you wanted to get? If my little ponies would not mind helping, we can go get it before heading to the library and getting you two settled." Celestia announced.  
"Yes, we do have some things in the lab that we would like to bring to the library if you ponies wouldn't mind." Once everyone agreed to help, Luna spoke up;  
"If it's alright with everyone, I was thinking we could take the train into Ponyville. It has been forever since we have ridden the train, and it would give us a chance to get to know each other better." Everyone agreed to the train ride into Ponyville, and the group left for the station. The guards were very nervous about letting the Princesses ride the train without any guards; in the end, Princess Celestia was able to convince them that with the Elements of Harmony riding along with them, they would be safe. They boarded the train and took their seats and soon the train left for Ponyville, taking Chaz and Lynn to their new home.

(End of Chapter 2) 


	5. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

They arrived at the Ponyville depot, and got off the train. The ponies at the train station gasped and knelt when they saw the Princesses getting off the train, but many of them cried out in shock when they saw the two humans and some of the children who were there ran and hid behind their parents when they saw the strange beings.  
"Once we get you situated at the library, we'll arrange a town meeting to introduce you to everyone. I'm sure there will be some resistance from the community to someone moving into Twilight's library, but I think once they learn that you'll take good care of everything in there and are well educated, they'll come to appreciate you." Celestia explained to Chaz and Lynn. They continued through town, only stopping at the Mayor's office to let her know about the town meeting, and then they continued on to the forest so they could gather up Chaz and Lynn's things from the lab.  
When they arrived, the two humans set about organizing everything they wanted to haul back to the library: all the lab computers they could move today and the computers accessories, along with the boombox, Chaz' acoustic guitar, Chaz and Lynn's spare changes of clothes and spare lab coat, Lynn also dug around through the lab for her regular sneakers; she had been wearing a pair of 4-inch heels before they arrived in Equestria, and with all the walking, her feet were in lots of pain. Each pony carried what they could, and the humans grabbed what they could and they all started the journey back to the library in Ponyville. After a couple hours, and a few stops to rearrange what they were carrying, the group made it to the library.  
Celestia unlocked the door, and had to push on it quite hard to get the stubborn hinges to break loose. Ever since Twilight's death, nopony had set foot in the library, and it showed; cobwebs all over the place, and dust coating everything. Celestia suggested they unload everything in the living room, and everyone pitch in and help clean up, which only took about an hour with all the help. By the time they were done cleaning, it was time for Luna to bring out the moon, which was something that the ponies rarely saw up close. She explained what she and her sister would be doing, and Chaz dug out his camcorder and began recording again. Nopony seemed to notice him grabbing the camcorder; they were all focused on the amazing spectacle they were seeing before them. Once Luna had finished raising the moon, they turned the lights in the library on and set about getting settled in. Chaz and Lynn decided to set up the computers in the basement, and by the time they got them set up and had started uploading all the video from the camcorders to them, they started getting hungry.  
Luna suggested they go out to eat at a fancy upper scale restaurant in downtown Ponyville. Everyone agreed, and they left. Along the walk there, the Princesses chatted with Chaz and Lynn about what food was like where they were from. The ponies seemed a little horrified to find that the humans ate animal flesh. Chaz explained that the animals that humans ate were raised for that purpose, and that while there were some humans who still hunted, their numbers were declining. Lynn was quick to add that humans could live fine as vegetarians, as long as they could find vegetables that provided vital nutrients humans needed to survive. When they arrived, the waiter brought them their menus after bowing to the Princesses and setting the group at his best table. Chaz and Lynn opened the menus, and realized that the entire menu was written in the Equestrian language. Luna offered to read the humans the menu, for which they were grateful. Once they had ordered, and had something to eat, Luna offered to take everypony and the two humans to a local club; the club had become increasingly popular since the Princesses repealed their alcohol prohibition, and Canterlot's DJ had moved to Ponyville to work at the club.  
As they got closer, they could feel the pounding bass from the techno music that was playing inside, punctuated by someone, the humans assumed it was a pony, scratching on a turntable. The door attendant had his back turned towards the door, watching for any trouble in the club. Celestia and Luna trotted to the front of the group, and Luna tapped the bouncer on his shoulder.  
"What d'ya want? We're at capacity, so get lost." He grumbled as he turned around to end up face to face with Princess Luna. His mouth fell open in surprise for a moment, and then he dropped to his knees before the two Princesses. "I beg your forgiveness, my Princesses."  
"It's alright, Lucky Clover… you may rise. We were hoping to come in and have a few ciders with our friends and a couple special guests. We're not looking for royal treatment tonight… we just want to have a good time and see our friend, Vinyl Scratch again, so do you think we can squeeze in someplace?" Celestia asked. Lucky Clover turned and went inside for a few minutes, and they lost track of him in the crowd. A few minutes later, a crowd of reasonably drunk ponies stumbled out the door, and Lucky reappeared at the door.  
"There you go, ladies." He said as he moved aside to let the Princesses and the Elements pass, but moved to block the doorway when Chaz and Lynn got up to the door. "What in Terra are you two? Whatever you are, you're not welcome here." He told Chaz and Lynn. Princess Luna saw them refused entry at the door and doubled back.  
"Lucky… is there a problem here?" Luna looked at him through narrowed eyes.  
"Th… these two… they don't belong here!"  
"They're with the Elements and us Princesses. Everything will be explained tomorrow morning at a town meeting… for now, just let them in, please, so they can enjoy their first night on Terra." Luna said, lightening up a little on Lucky Clover. He nodded, and moved aside.  
Inside the club, Chaz and Lynn were surprised at how much the club resembled some of the clubs they had been to on Earth, though this club had more of a rave atmosphere to it, though without the drugs that were so common at the raves they had been to on Earth. The Princesses went to the bar and bought a round of drinks for everyone, with the DJ getting a double delivered to her on stage. Once everyone got their drinks, the DJ was the first to raise her glass to the Princesses, quickly followed by everyone. After about another half-hour, the DJ took a break from her turntables, and after putting on an old mixtape, she joined the Princesses and the Elements of Harmony at their table.  
"Well, well… it's good to see you two out and about. I never took you for the party pony, Celestia." The DJ pony said as she nuzzled the Princesses. "And, who do we have here? I've never seen anypony like you before. I'm Vinyl Scratch, I'm only called DJ Pon3 when I'm working the turntables… somepony thought it would make me sound more techno if they spelled it with a '3' instead of a 'y'." Vinyl introduced herself.  
"I'm Chaz and this is Lynn... we're humans from a planet called Earth. Some kind of freak occurrence happened and we ended up here. AppleJack found us in her apple orchard, and once the rest of the group got there, they took us to meet the Princesses, and after a day of cleaning and tidying up the library, we came here for a couple drinks before heading to bed." Chaz answered. They all chatted for a little bit, then Fluttershy spoke up.  
"Vinyl, how's Octavia doing? Haven't seen her around for a while." Octavia and Fluttershy had become very good friends in the aftermath of Twilight's death.  
"She's cool. She got called away to Phillydelphia for a few gigs. She should be back before this big town meeting in a couple days. So… you two having a good time tonight?" Vinyl asked, turning to the humans.  
"Yeah… we are, for only having been here since this afternoon. This place is so much like Earth, it's a little spooky… but it's so different at the same time. Where did you get all your records from?" Chaz answered, and then asked.  
"I got them in Canterlot, from the recording studio I owned there. I mixed and cut the albums myself. I'm only part owner of it now, but one of these days, I can take you and see how it compares to the recording studios you've seen back on… what was it called?"  
"It's Earth, and we'd love that. Once we can check out our computers and make sure they still work, I might have a ton of music for you to check out. We might have to modify your console up there to play the music we came here with, but we'll deal with that when we get there." Chaz let the DJ know.  
"Cool. Well, it's been nice seeing you gals again. Princesses, don't be strangers! You're always welcome here, even if it's just to say 'Hi'. And, Chaz and Lynn, it's been a pleasure meeting you… I'd hang out with all you guys more if I could, but I've gotta get back up to my turntables, and it sounds like it might be a bit of an early day for everyone. I'll see you guys in the morning at some point, I'm sure." She said, getting up from the table and heading towards the stage.  
"Yeah, we should probably get going before the sun comes up and we miss our own town hall meeting." Lynn slurred a little bit towards the end of her sentence. Celestia laughed a little.  
"You forget… we control when the day begins, but, yeah… we don't need you two waking up all cidered up the day we introduce you to the city." She said with a grin and headed up to the bar to pay. The bartender waved her off;  
"Princess, you don't owe anything, you know that." Celestia shook her head.  
"I had you give everyone a drink on us, and then there's all the drinks me and my sister and our friends had. And, I'm willing to pay you, so there shouldn't be a problem." Celestia said as she placed three gold coins on the bar in front of the bartender.  
"Princess, that's way too much. I can't let you pay so much…" She raised a hoof.  
"No, I insist." And, at that, she turned to leave the bar, and gathered her friends up and they all started toward the library. Along the short walk, the cider really started to hit the humans, and the Princesses had to offer a shoulder to help them make it back to the library. Once they got back to their new home, the humans went right to their room and passed out almost as soon as their heads hit the pillow. The rest of the ponies made their way back to their houses, while Celestia let Luna have the remaining bed, and the Sun Princess slept on the couch.  
In the morning, Celestia was the first one up, and went around the library waking everyone else up. Once they were all awake, Celestia invited them outside so they could see her raise the Sun. Once outside, Chaz started recording the ceremony. Nothing was said during it, but it seemed to take a great deal of Celestia's energy to lower the moon, and raise the sun. Once that was done, the two Princesses and the two humans went back into the library to have a quick breakfast. Being that the humans knew next to nothing about Equestrian cooking, the two Princesses helped them make something to eat. It took a little bit, and the humans were weary of the haycakes, but in the end, everything turned out as it should and with a little spice and doctoring, the humans discovered that the haycakes were not as bad as they thought they would be.  
Once the dishes were taken care of, the Princesses headed out into the day with the humans to hold the town hall meeting.

(End of Chapter 3) 


End file.
